zero: 00000 [video]
[All the camera shows is Yori's face and a fall of loosely curled blonde hair; she looks brisk and businesslike.]
If this is Flynn's new system, he has got to work on his coding. Does anyone know where I can find an I/O tower? Or-- [She falters, just a fraction.]
Tron? Are you here?
[A hopeful smile, flickering back to friendly neutrality ( Read more... )
If this is Flynn's new system, he has got to work on his coding. Does anyone know where I can find an I/O tower? Or-- [She falters, just a fraction.]
Tron? Are you here?
[A hopeful smile, flickering back to friendly neutrality ( Read more... )
Y- Yori...
[There is a long stretch of silence--or so it would seem except there seems to be some sort of static-y rumbling on the line as if the connection is bad perhaps--before anything else is forthcoming from this id. When the replier finally does speak back up his voice is strained, the already gravelly pitch of his tone only making it that much harder to hear him clearly.]
Y-you're..here. No. [The rumbling noise rises in volume until it sounds distinctly more like a growl than static.] You shouldn't be. Not...here.
[The audio function suddenly cuts off but the connection remains intact. After a long moment text appears on the screen of the phone.]
Not the Grid. Not Flynn's system. No I/O towers.
Tron is not here.
Energy can be found in various places around the city. Alternatively: can be provided in person via exchange if necessary.
This is a part of the User world. [Likely. He wasn't entirely convinced yet. Not like what he remembered.]
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[She answers in kind, typing awkwardly. If someone were hunting Tron, if this system were hostile...she can think of several dozen reasons Tron might say these things, and none of them good.]
I apologize if I should not have used that name openly.
I would like to meet when possible. Where can I find you?
[The User world. She didn't know what to think about that claim, except that Tron wouldn't lie about it. It would explain the awkward, counterintuitive device and the complete lack of response in her present environment. It would not at all explain how such a thing was possible, but this is Tron.]
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Your location known. All residents arrive in hospital morgue. Transit to there simple.
Confirm: need for energy is imperative?
[Okay, so he didn't actually think that but it was the easiest only easiest slip for his processor to let by without utterly breaking his system. Normal people would call it an 'excuse'.]
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Someone calling himself Ichigo is offering aid with local clothing. Is he trustworthy?
[Because who would she ask if not Tron?]
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[There is a noticeable gap between the two corresponding text replies, an obvious pause of calculation before he answers the query.]
Acceptable as an ally.
[It was the best he was going to admit.]
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[She means it as a gentle tease, though also a test of reaction. Just how bad have things been?]
Please confirm--there are two versions of you active here? What cause?
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Correct. Cause: this place. Known for duplicates. [Just like the last place he was in so it really doesn't hit him that hard anymore to process. Plus, his double is himself this time as opposed to...Tron. Much more preferable.] Specifics unknown. Different circumstances indicate possible alternate universe. [Would she even understand what he meant? Even he still had a hard time with that one sometimes.]
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What differences are there between duplicate versions? Separate time of backup, or contradictory memories?
Any known connection between these...alternate worlds? [Any way home?]
If we have all been taken without permission, someone must have the method of doing so.
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Contradictory memories, experiences, actions. Variances differ individual to individual, world to world. Some more different than others; some only one or two things different, some almost completely different.
Unknown how to activate such conduits. [That is to say: yes. But inaccessible at this time.]
Unknown force behind this.
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[She doesn't like feeling trapped, but on the whole it doesn't sound so different from waiting on the will of the Users. Though Yori had had her objections to that, too, especially after meeting Flynn.]
Evidence suggesting this force is benign, intelligent, or malicious? Aware, ignorant, or uncaring of us?
[What sort of over-Users are they dealing with, who steal so many programs and Users from their proper homes?]
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No direct contact so far. Consensus mostly based on special individuals that "feel" it's presence. Possibly similar to an outward system scan. Inconclusive. [He hasn't had direct contact, or any contact really, with these people. Just...stalking the network.]
Unique events occurred in past concur with possibility entity is purposefully malign or does not care what happens within the city.
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Understood.
[And she can't even begin to ask the things she most wants to know over an impersonal, open connection. If she had more data--but she doesn't know anything, can't risk hurting Tron. More.]
Encryption protocols were recommended, communications confirmed insecure.
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[He's obviously unconcerned with the current information getting around. Common knowledge as far as he is concerned.]
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Some time after...
[This is a very strange device and the other Tron was using unfamiliar code. Yori does her best. At any rate, it's locked to Rinzler, if not unhackable.]
Can we meet?
[She doesn't mention time or place yet, not until Tron...Rinzler...has a chance to correct her mistakes, though perhaps it's obvious she ended up with Ichigo's friends.]
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The simple answer was no.
The harder answer was that for whatever reason he really did want to see her in person. He didn't like that but there it was.
What came out in response was an unhackable reply: a string of coordinates and nothing more.]
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Thank you.
[Yori didn't know the city's coordinate system well yet, but it didn't take too long to work it out. The black sky, the empty streets made her shiver. It was too dark, as though something like the MCP had managed to drain every last drop of life. Blue light glimmered faintly from her wrists, though the User clothes were thick enough to conceal most of it. Turning on the phone's light felt like drawing unfriendly attention. Tron would find her without it.]
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